[Double Edge]

I was prescribed Lamictal by my pdoc the other day. Hopefully I'll be starting 25mg tomorrow. My pdoc wrote the rx incorrectly so need to pickup a new script; kind of annoyed about that, because clearly he was thinking of a drug that started at 10mg. Le sigh.

I've noticed a number of you have your rx list in your signatures, and Lamictal seems to be relatively common. Would anyone be willing to share your reactions and side effects to Lamictal?

My pdoc said it should "elevate my mood, but right under hypomania." My therapist also said this was the goal. Would you say you felt this "elevation" in mood upon starting Lamictal? Has it been successful for you? Would that be how you describe how you feel?

To give a better understanding of my situation, I'm on;
- Wellbutrin XL 300mg (daily)
- Valium 10mg as needed (try not to be daily to subdue physical dependence)
- oxycodone 10 mg as needed (for back/hip pain, I get 60 of these maybe every 2-3 months, don't take 'em unless I'm in a lot of pain, and then only before bed)
- Celebrex 200-400mg as needed (same as the oxy, or if I'm in a lot of pain during the day, like at work or something, can't be dealing with drowsiness from oxy)

Researched drug interactions and none occur between Wellbutrin and Lamictal. Noticed "tired feeling" was a "less serious side effect," which seems contrary to "mood elevation," so hoping I don't get that. Tired feeling is exactly my problem right now. Sleeping 12-15 hours a day for the past two weeks. How the hell am I supposed to take the GRE, apply for grad school, and finish my last semester this depressed?! I'm really hoping I get lucky and Lamictal works great for me, but still nervous. A mix of cautious optimism with realistic pessimism. :P

Guess I just really want to hear if people have any success stories with Lamictal, either alone or in their cocktails, and also any unpleasant trade-offs one may have had to make. I'm super nervous about starting it and just trying to get the best understanding of it I can. Thank you in advance for any feedback you might have!

[newtothis31]

I tried Lamictal and it worked fairly well for me. I can't remember the exact timeline on when it helped me- but I remember it feeling quicker than what I anticipated. Unfortunately, I started to get blurred vision during the day and while driving so my p-doc discontinued usage. That's how I ended up on Latuda.

[Double Edge]

Hmm, interesting, thank you for sharing. That's good to hear it worked well for you, but sorry to hear you developed blurry vision. That's a bummer. My therapist listed Latuda as one of the more popular BP meds. She said that you only take it for a set timeframe and then discontinue usage? Is that true? (I haven't looked it up, but even still, I guess sometimes doctors have flexibility in how they prescribe).

Semi-off-topic-ramble: your post reminds me about the only time I got blurred vision for something I was taking during recovery from a car accident... I forget what it was, but I was driving, and suddenly everything became blurry and almost double vision. I was supposed to start a new holiday job at Cole Haan that day, and ended up turning down the job because I thought something was wrong with my eyes! (I have a scar tissue in the back of my eye that has to be monitored for potential changes, so my worry wasn't absurdly paranoid.) Got a whole CT and everything and turns out to be meds. So sad, was looking forward to that employee discount, lol.

[Victoria'smom]

Lamictal has been a god sent to my family. All three of us have had no side effects but my vision did quickly deteriorate I didn't even connection it to my medications until newtothis said something. Adding Wellbutrin to my mix sent me over the top.

With me (150 mg) it doesn't prevent (hypo)mania but gives me a bit more control over it. I still need an anti psychotic as needed and an anti depressant / anti psychotic medication. I cannot say I'm stable but closer than I've ever been. I feel my lamictal maybe to low. It has stabilized me to high probably.

My husband takes 200mg. It stabilized him to low. In a depressive episode they had to increase his anti depressant and add an anti psychotic to stabilize him but he's well now.

My son takes it for mood swings it does well until about 6 pm. We had to add abilify to his medicine so the plan is to remove lamictal so he's only taking one small pill a day.

[Feelinwobbly]

The only other med for bipolar I have tried was trileptal. I like the lamictal so much more than that. Very few side effects for me. A little motor co-ordination problems for a day or so every time I increase dose but other than that very happy and hopeful about Lamictal.

[newtothis31]

Just to be clear- for me- I had episodes of blurred vision. My RX didn't change- but I had instances where my vision just became extremely blurry. I'd describe it as episodic. Other than that- it was the first medicine I took where I was like, "Yay, this is what better looks like!

Since I was taking Depakote at the same time- I was only on 100 mg.

Hope you have a good experience with it!

[gubernova]

My psychiatrist says this is her go to drug for people suffering from bipolar disorder. It made me sleepy and impaired my motor skills so I take it at night. It's been 7 yrs since my last manic episode. However, I think I've finally popped as I'm starting to experience the symptoms of hypomania.

[Double Edge]

Originally Posted by Miguel'smom

Lamictal has been a god sent to my family. All three of us have had no side effects but my vision did quickly deteriorate I didn't even connection it to my medications until newtothis said something. Adding Wellbutrin to my mix sent me over the top.

With me (150 mg) it doesn't prevent (hypo)mania but gives me a bit more control over it. I still need an anti psychotic as needed and an anti depressant / anti psychotic medication. I cannot say I'm stable but closer than I've ever been. I feel my lamictal maybe to low. It has stabilized me to high probably.

My husband takes 200mg. It stabilized him to low. In a depressive episode they had to increase his anti depressant and add an anti psychotic to stabilize him but he's well now.

My son takes it for mood swings it does well until about 6 pm. We had to add abilify to his medicine so the plan is to remove lamictal so he's only taking one small pill a day.

That's really great to hear that Lamictal has worked so well for you and your family! Thank you so much for sharing. Also happy to hear your husband's depression got stabilized, I bet he's so relieved. When you say the Lamictal "stabilized him to low," do you mean like it calmed him down? I hope your son has good luck with Abilify, I didn't do well on it. It made me feel flat and emotionless, and gain 20 lbs. with no change to my diet and an actual increase in exercise. It feels like it's always so hit or miss when trying out a new medicine, doesn't it?

The whole idea behind my taking Lamictal is to pull me out of depression, so I'm worried about the downer side effects. I hope we don't have to do too much messing around with other medications but am realistic that it's a great possibility. I don't want/can't afford to take 450mg of Wellbutrin XL... it seriously increases the risk of seizures, wasn't found to be significantly more effective than 300mg in their own clinical trial, and ever since I went on my husband's insurance plan on 8/1 my Wellbutrin XL went from $4/month to $136, and that's with the manufacturer's discount coupon. (I get the brand because of the time-release issues the generic has had in the past causing seizures for people... makes me way too paranoid.) Blasted insurance/pharmaceutical companies. :P

[Double Edge]

Originally Posted by Feelinwobbly

The only other med for bipolar I have tried was trileptal. I like the lamictal so much more than that. Very few side effects for me. A little motor co-ordination problems for a day or so every time I increase dose but other than that very happy and hopeful about Lamictal.

Thank you for sharing! It's good to hear you have very few side effects—that's how I feel about my Wellbutrin XL, barely a thing. The motor coordination problems when titrating up on the Lamictal are interesting, I wonder what causes that. I wish you continued luck with the Lamictal and hope it works out well for you!

[Double Edge]

Originally Posted by newtothis31

Just to be clear- for me- I had episodes of blurred vision. My RX didn't change- but I had instances where my vision just became extremely blurry. I'd describe it as episodic. Other than that- it was the first medicine I took where I was like, "Yay, this is what better looks like!

Since I was taking Depakote at the same time- I was only on 100 mg.

Hope you have a good experience with it!

My blurred vision was just a sudden onset and didn't go away until after I stopped whatever medication it was that I was taking. For the life of me, I can't recall, but I was still recovering from PTSD and a concussion, so that's not surprising. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have been getting a second job anyway! During Christmastime, too!

And that "Yay, this is what better looks like!" feeling you describe is how I felt shortly after starting Wellbutrin XL. Sadly, though, its effects have mostly leveled off. But at least I know what you're talking about! Hope I get that feeling with Lamictal!

[Double Edge]

Originally Posted by gubernova

My psychiatrist says this is her go to drug for people suffering from bipolar disorder. It made me sleepy and impaired my motor skills so I take it at night. It's been 7 yrs since my last manic episode. However, I think I've finally popped as I'm starting to experience the symptoms of hypomania.

That's what my psychiatrist said too, that it was his "go to for bipolar!" And it made you sleepy and impaired motor skills, huh? Hmm, that's interesting, and what I'm worried about. Another poster mentioned motor-skill issues too. Did you find that your sleepiness carried on throughout the day or did you wake up feeling refreshed?

Good luck to you with your oncoming hypomania... I hope it stays manageable for you and doesn't interfere with your life in any negative way. Thank you for sharing!

[pawn78]

Best drug ever for my bipolar. Only drug I'm on and the only side effect is dehydration, so I just drink extra water.

[Double Edge]

Originally Posted by pawn78

Best drug ever for my bipolar. Only drug I'm on and the only side effect is dehydration, so I just drink extra water.

That's awesome, stoked to hear it works so well for you! It must be great only having to worry about one med. Thanks for the feedback!

[gubernova]

Following up, you eventually adjust to the sleepiness and impaired motor skills, they go away as long as I stayed on night dosage. But compared to so many other mood stabilizers I've taken this one is pretty clean, meaning minor side effects. The sleepiness goes away completely and this drug never really helped long term with my insomnia. It also leaves you feeling very unmedicated and clear-thinking after you adjust to the initial titration. Good luck

[lilypup]

I love lamictal. I feel it is my baseline drug. All of my other drugs address additional specific issues. I highly recommend it...don't recall any side effects at all.

[BipolaRNurse]

I'm on so many psych meds that I'm never sure which of them works best at a given time. But Lamictal was my first bipolar medication, and it took about 2 months of titrating up 25 mg at a time to feel a difference. You have to be patient with it, but when the payoff comes, it's great. I had to start adding other drugs when I got manic, and it doesn't seem like I can ever get off them once started. But I think Lamictal is the drug that pulls everything else together.

[catman1975]

The Lamictal was working well for me at 300mg per day before I ran out and couldn't afford to refill. I would recommend it as a mood stabilizer, seems like it worked well with few side effects. I preferred it to the others like Seroquel and Depakote. Currently I am taking only lithium because it is cheap and I can feel the difference with the Lamictal missing. My mood has been very unstable. So I think it was working for me. I do know that you are supposed to start and stop it slowly. Good luck!

[GALAXYGAL]

Originally Posted by newtothis31

I tried Lamictal and it worked fairly well for me. I can't remember the exact timeline on when it helped me- but I remember it feeling quicker than what I anticipated. Unfortunately, I started to get blurred vision during the day and while driving so my p-doc discontinued usage. That's how I ended up on Latuda.

Hi (new here) I take Lamotrigine 200-250 mg (2.5 years) and Latuda 60 mg (7 months). My psychiatrist wants to keep me on Latuda indefinitely for depression, mania and psychosis because I could not tolerate Seroquel and the weight gain. How does Latuda make you feel and how long have you been taking it?

[Standup2me]

Lamictal has saved my life. I would not be alive today without it.

My side effect was massive thirst. I could not get enough to drink. I would drink several litres of water every day and it was not enough.
It is much better now, but I still have more thirst than in my pre-Lamictal days.

[pawn78]

Originally Posted by Standup2me

Lamictal has saved my life. I would not be alive today without it.

My side effect was massive thirst. I could not get enough to drink. I would drink several litres of water every day and it was not enough.
It is much better now, but I still have more thirst than in my pre-Lamictal days.

Same here, ridiculous thirst, always getting dried out. But otherwise amazing!!!

[Disorder7]

I want to try Lamictal but I'm afraid because it has a black box warning. I know it's rare. Only 1 in about 1,000 actually die from Lamictal....I guess I have better odds of being struck by lightning. But I'm still scared.

[Bipolarchic14]

It started helping after a few months and stopped helping about six months in.

[Double Edge]

Originally Posted by gubernova

Following up, you eventually adjust to the sleepiness and impaired motor skills, they go away as long as I stayed on night dosage. But compared to so many other mood stabilizers I've taken this one is pretty clean, meaning minor side effects. The sleepiness goes away completely and this drug never really helped long term with my insomnia. It also leaves you feeling very unmedicated and clear-thinking after you adjust to the initial titration. Good luck

Thanks for the feedback and the encouragement! It's good to hear that the sleepiness went away for you and that you feel clear-thinking on it. That's really good... always concerned about "medication brain fog." I'm most worried about the tiredness as a side effect since that's what I'm battling most right now, but sounds like it's been going well for you!

[Double Edge]

Originally Posted by lilypup

I love lamictal. I feel it is my baseline drug. All of my other drugs address additional specific issues. I highly recommend it...don't recall any side effects at all.

That's awesome, really happy to hear it works so well for you! I really appreciate the recommendation and feedback. I'm really hoping I have a good reaction to it as well. Today was day #1 on 25mg, so we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks.

[Double Edge]

Originally Posted by BipolaRNurse

I'm on so many psych meds that I'm never sure which of them works best at a given time. But Lamictal was my first bipolar medication, and it took about 2 months of titrating up 25 mg at a time to feel a difference. You have to be patient with it, but when the payoff comes, it's great. I had to start adding other drugs when I got manic, and it doesn't seem like I can ever get off them once started. But I think Lamictal is the drug that pulls everything else together.

Thank you for sharing your experience. It's interesting how you describe it as the "drug that pulls everything else together." I think that's kinda what my pdoc is trying to help me find now after having intolerable side effects with Abilify (weight gain, akathisia). Thanks for the reminder to be patient, that's sometimes the hardest thing, especially after being depressed for so long. Gotta keep thinking one day at a time...